chanel beauty – me and my mirror

Chanel’s Les Beiges Summer 2019 collection recently landed in Australia and while I would have loved to grab the whole lot, there was one product that I had been lusting over for months.

The Water fresh tint is so unique and really stood out from the masses of like-foundation. Chanel’s website suggests that you can use this in three ways, as a primer, alone or as a touch up product. The concept and it’s texture were intriguing so if you want to know my thoughts on this product please keep on reading.

Claims

From chanel.com

The first CHANEL complexion tint featuring pigment micro-droplets that deliver a water-fresh sensation and a radiant, healthy-looking glow.
Created with patented MicroFluidic technology, the lightweight gel texture bursts with ultra-pure ingredients for a bare-skin effect with eight hours of hydration and comfort. Skin feels refreshed and energized.

Texture

The texture of this tint is something else. It has a gel consistency and is transparent so you can really see the pigments suspended in it.

How to apply

Chanel recommends to pump some (I use two pumps at a time) on the back of your hand and then to use a brush to break the pigments up to mesh with the gel. Once mixed, you then apply it with the brush. The brush provided is fine but is a bit on the small side. If you have similar flat top brushes then they will be ok too. I generally just swirl it around my face and because it’s so lightweight, it’s so quick and easy to do. I sometimes use another pump or two just to adequately cover my face. The burst of coolness on application is really refreshing and would be amazing in summer (it’s almost Winter here). I’ve also applied it using my fingers and that works nicely too.

Chanel Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint – texture once the pigments are mixed up.

Coverage

This is a tint so there is little to no coverage. I will describe it as sheer coverage at best. It does a really good job of evening out my skintone and giving me a hydrated and luminous skin effect without any heaviness and cakiness. There is 75% water in this formula as well as tamarind seed extract which helps with hydration, resulting in that natural and healthy glow. I would normally use concealer if I want to cover up any old acne scars or pigmentation as I would do with any other foundation. I would rather let my natural skin show through and spot conceal any troubled areas.

Packaging

It comes in a frosted plastic bottle with a pump which is both elegant and practical. Included is a small buffing brush which probably more useful for touchups but works fine nether less.

Chanel Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint – frosted plastic cylinder with a pump

Chanel Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint – buffing brush which is included. It’s bristles are soft but dense enough to distribute the product evenly

Shade

I bought the shade Medium. It might look scary dark in the bottle but when swatched, it looks more normal. I’m an NC30 and this shade suits me fine.

There are 6 shades available from Light to Deep. This doesn’t sound like enough in hindsight but because the formula is so sheer, there is a lot of give around the shades. I recommend that you go in store if possible and swatch it just to be certain since it is pretty pricey.

Lasting power

I only wear this as a standalone base product and powder my t-zone where I get a bit oily during the day. I didn’t have high hopes for longevity but surprisingly it holds up for a whole work day (8-9 hours) and I can still see traces it on my face when I go to remove it which is much later (around 10-12 hrs). It wears very well and fades evenly without patching off like some foundations. All the while my face doesn’t feel dry at all, very much hydrated in fact which I really appreciate especially with the cold winds we’ve been experiencing in Sydney.

Cost

$109 AUD from Myer. Included is a small brush and is 30ml.

Final thoughts

Rating: 5/5 (Love this, will always need it in my beauty arsenal!)

I genuinely love this product, it’s the perfect base to throw on quickly without having to worry about it fading or caking off. It’s ideal for people who like a natural and fresh look. Glass skin is all the rage (born from Korean skincare) and I can confidently say that it can be achieved with this product. This is the look I generally like to go for day to day. The cooling effect when it touches your skin is just very unique to me and really wakes me up in the morning which is a great bonus! The only downside is the price and since I need to use at least 3-4 pumps each time, it wouldn’t last as long as regular foundations. If you’ve been curious about it, I would go get a sample or try it at your local Chanel counter.

I’m fairly new to makeup from Chanel. I’m not a collector, I just tend to gravitate to whatever catches my eye. This new SS19 collection release did grab my attention, it even made me buy things which are normally out of my comfort zone. Lucia Pica is global creative make-up and colour director for Chanel and this collection was inspired from her trip to Japan and South Korea.

From chanel.com

Lucia Pica draws inspiration from the radiant and subtle contrasts seen during her trip through Asia, where she explored the cities, streets and markets. Captivated by the beauty of everyday details, she creates an intense range of makeup with green, blue, gold, ivory and fuchsia shades. A luminous collection.

There were so many things that I wanted from this collection but I thought it be more sensible to just pick up the limited edition items first. For information on the whole collection, see Chanel’s website SS19 page here.

I picked up two things, the les 9 ombres in Edition N°2 #Quintessence and Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Colour in #71 Nuance.

les 9 ombres in Edition N°2 #Quintessence

les 9 ombres in ÉDITION N°2 QUINTESSENCE

This 9 pan eyeshadow palette is the hero of the collection. Edition 1 was released last year and that had more pastel, lighter tones. Edition 2 is quite the opposite and really reflects her inspiration of colours from Asia.

les 9 ombres in Edition N°2 #Quintessence – Swatched over primer. Some of the shades didn’t swatch so well but perform better on the eye.

At first I didn’t think the colours were cohesive enough. They were also colours that I didn’t have and don’t normally wear. I have discovered since that you can use it either way, the neutral colours for an everyday look or the deeper colours for a bolder look for the evening or more editorial looks. There are intense mattes which can be built up and lovely high shine shimmering satin formulas in this palette which compliment the mattes nicely. The SA Michael (in Myer City, very helpful and lovely) applied the teal shadow in my outer corners and filled the inner part with the gold shimmer, so simple and looked gorgeous. Even though the colour story didn’t speak to me immediately, I have really loved playing with the colours and really glad that I picked it up.

A couple of looks I came up with. Please excuse my otherwise bare face and bad lighting. I’m also not skilled with taking selfies of any kind.
Left: Used the light taupe matte shade to set Lorac Primer, applied the red matte shade all over and darkened the lashline and outer edge with the matte brown.
Right: Used the light taupe matte shade to set Lorac Primer, applied the teal blue all over and darkened the lashline and outer edge with the dark blue

Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Colour in #71 Nuance

This is the first Chanel lipstick that I own and I was curious about the “luminous matte” formula. I would describe the formula as being a creamy matte. It does have a slight sheen to the finish but it’s not glossy or obvious, more of a satin finish. After watching a Chanel video where Aimee Cheng-Bradshaw, applied Nuance paired with a bold eye, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. Nuance is a warm peachy nude shade and is the perfect nude for me without looking like concealer on my lips because of the warm undertone. It also compliments my warm complexion nicely. It’s staying power isn’t great since it is a bullet lipstick but it feels comfortable to wear which is what matters more to me. There is another shade in this collection, #73 Imperial which is a lovely mid tone red.

There’s a couple of other items which I want to pick up from this collection, which are permanent. They are the BAUME ESSENTIEL Multi-Use Glow Stick in Sculpting, which is a subtle cream highlighter stick and the Ombre première Longwear Cream Eyeshadow in #840 Patine Bronze.

From their Le Blanc 2019 collection I picked up the Les Tissages de Chanel Blush Duo in Tweed Beige. The SA applied this on my cheeks in store and I fell hard for the shade. It’s such a lovely rosy beige shade. If Hourglass’ Brilliant Nude and Nars’ Madly had a baby, then this would blush duo would be the result.

I think the shade is unique and can double up as a bronzer and blush on the cheeks. The tweed effect of gold shimmer runs through it which luckily is just overspray. If you like a sparkly mess then you’ll like the gold shimmer. I prefer the natural luminous flush of colour so once the overspray is removed, it’s perfect. This blush duo isn’t a new product but this shade is part of their new release. There is also another new shade in this collection as well in Tweed Pink which is a bit too bright for my taste. Chicprofile.com has a great post on the collection here.

The last thing I picked up from this mini Chanel haul was the Inimitable mascara. This is permanent and part of their regular collection. I bought the original one, non waterproof one. It also comes in Intense and Waterproof variations. It has a small rubber brush which seperates my lashes really well. It’s average in terms of volumising and lengthening, you’ll need a couple of coats to get some definition.

It smudges a little bit by the end of the day but it’s not too bad. Doesn’t flake at all. It’s good but I probably wouldn’t buy this again. The Hourglass caution mascara has the same claims but is cheaper and doesn’t smudge.

Chanel is available in Australia from Myer and David Jones department stores.

Have you picked up anything from Chanel’s latest 2019 collections? Let me know in the comments!

me and my mirror

A beauty blog, with a focus on asian beauty

Tag: chanel beauty

[Review] Chanel – Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint (Eau De Teint)